Years following really good UM teams that were highly ranked, high achieving, often sniffing or winning championships, and filled with lots of AA and All B10 players, just like this year's team followed a team that was 3 pts away from the playoffs. This side of Bama, OSU, and Clemson (maybe), every other college football program goes through tough years following the loss of a lot of quality talent (see Sparty last year for an extreme example).
Our OL, QBs, and WRs, the three biggest problem units this year, will be much more experienced and ready to perform on a higher level. That our defense did not drop off like our offense is a testament truly to the talent levels on that side that Hoke left behind (Hurst, Winovich, and McCray; not so much on offense) and the outstanding coordinator we have in Don Brown.
Next year, despite the schedule, will be much better. We might not be quite back on track for a B10 championship or playoff contention, but I'm very confident the offense will be better based on recruited talent and experience gained this year.
Our OL, QBs, and WRs, the three biggest problem units this year, will be much more experienced and ready to perform on a higher level. That our defense did not drop off like our offense is a testament truly to the talent levels on that side that Hoke left behind (Hurst, Winovich, and McCray; not so much on offense) and the outstanding coordinator we have in Don Brown.
Next year, despite the schedule, will be much better. We might not be quite back on track for a B10 championship or playoff contention, but I'm very confident the offense will be better based on recruited talent and experience gained this year.
